Not exact matches
The case of this one
polar bear and the failure of her offspring to survive in the new environmental conditions of the Arctic doesn't bode well for the future of the species, especially as Arctic
sea ice continues to retreat at a record pace.
The U.S. Department of the Interior Wednesday listed the
polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 based on evidence that the animal's
sea ice habitat is shrinking and is likely to
continue to do so over the next several decades.
The decision was based on evidence that
sea ice is vital for
polar bear survival, that this
sea ice habitat has been reduced, and that this process is likely to
continue; if something is not done to change this situation, the
polar bear will be extinct within 45 years, Kempthorne said.
The
continuing warming and summertime retreats of
sea ice around the North Pole are making life difficult for seal - hunting
polar bears, eroding Inuit coastal villages and now, evidently, eroding Arctic defenses (although not weakening them, the Pentagon insists).
Excerpt: Livermore CA (SPX) Nov 01, 2005 If humans
continue to use fossil fuels in a business as usual manner for the next several centuries, the
polar ice caps will be depleted, ocean
sea levels will rise by seven meters and median air temperatures will soar 14.5 degrees warmer than current day.
Ms. Gormezano is not a fan of the forecasting methods used by Dr. Amstrup to conclude that a two - thirds reduction in
polar bears is possible midcentury if summer
sea ice continues retreating.
If both Greenland and West Antarctica shed the entirety of their
ice burden, global
sea levels would rise by 12 to 14 m. Although these icecaps would not disintegrate within a century, the loss of even a third of their mass — quite plausible if the rate of
polar ice loss
continues to double each decade — would force up the oceans by at least 4 m, with disastrous socioeconomic and environmental consequences.
Despite Center for Biological Diversity assertions that «Arctic
sea ice melt is a disaster for the
polar bears», research shows
polar bear populations have
continued to thrive and increase.
... observations suggested the bears drowned in rough
seas and high winds and «suggest that drowning - related deaths of
polar bears may increase in the future if the observed trend of regression of pack
ice and / or longer open water periods
continues.»
Recent trends in the decline of Arctic
polar sea ice extent
continued in 2016.
For example, reductions in seasonal
sea ice cover and higher surface temperatures may open up new habitat in polar regions for some important fish species, such as cod, herring, and pollock.128 However, continued presence of cold bottom - water temperatures on the Alaskan continental shelf could limit northward migration into the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska.129, 130 In addition, warming may cause reductions in the abundance of some species, such as pollock, in their current ranges in the Bering Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.
sea ice cover and higher surface temperatures may open up new habitat in
polar regions for some important fish species, such as cod, herring, and pollock.128 However,
continued presence of cold bottom - water temperatures on the Alaskan continental shelf could limit northward migration into the northern Bering
Sea and Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska.129, 130 In addition, warming may cause reductions in the abundance of some species, such as pollock, in their current ranges in the Bering Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.
Sea and Chukchi
Sea off northwestern Alaska.129, 130 In addition, warming may cause reductions in the abundance of some species, such as pollock, in their current ranges in the Bering Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.
Sea off northwestern Alaska.129, 130 In addition, warming may cause reductions in the abundance of some species, such as pollock, in their current ranges in the Bering
Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.
Sea131and reduce the health of juvenile sockeye salmon, potentially resulting in decreased overwinter survival.132 If ocean warming
continues, it is unlikely that current fishing pressure on pollock can be sustained.133 Higher temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency of early Chinook salmon migrations, making management of the fishery by multiple user groups more challenging.134
Instead of fixing the black carbon (soot) pollution they are responsible for, the EU activists
continue to rail about the atmospheric trace gas CO2, which, by the way, doesn't melt glaciers,
sea ice or
polar ice sheet caps.
While the dramatic loss of weight has not led to a decline in the population of
polar bears, that could change as a warming Arctic
continues to melt away
sea ice.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on December 27 that it is proposing formally to list the
polar bear as «threatened» with extinction, because rising Arctic temperature is causing the loss of
sea ice, on which
polar bears depend...
Continue reading →
In a February report, Dr. Parkinson said, «If trends toward shortened
sea ice seasons and lesser
sea ice coverage
continue, this could entail major consequences to the
polar and perhaps global climate, and to the lifestyles and survivability of selected Arctic plant and animal species.»
«Two findings were most critical to FWS's listing determination: (1) extensive declines in Arctic
sea ice extent already have occurred and are projected to
continue; and (2) the
polar bear depends on
sea ice for its
continued survival as a species.
And since we have had rising
sea level over last couple centuries, and this generally indicates warming global ocean volume, I expect this trend to
continue for the next century [most likely] and due to warming oceans continuation of tread of less
polar sea ice.
Marine mammals living in the
polar regions rely on
sea ice, and
continuing reductions in the amount of
ice will harm populations of seals, walruses, and
polar bears.